"I just don't think she's qualified," Morgenthau bluntly declared in an interview on "The Charlie Rose Show" Wednesday night. "She has no humility."

Morgenthau, who defeated the former judge at the polls in 2005, lambasted Snyder for "bragging about how tough she was" in her book "25 To Life."

"I don't think that's a qualification for being a DA," Morgenthau said, noting Snyder once told a defendant she would be willing to give him a lethal injection. "That's not the kind of person I want as DA."

Asked to respond to Morgenthau's remarks, Michael Tobman, Snyder's spokesman said, "[Snyder] wishes him nothing but the best and joins other New Yorkers in celebrating his accomplishments and long tenure. The rest is just campaign politics."

Snyder once supported the death penalty under limited circumstances. She now opposes it.

As for Snyder's lack of interest in consumer fraud cases, Tobman said, "Leslie's passion and energies as a young assistant district attorney were focused on fighting sex crimes and homicides, which is not reflective of the importance of consumer crimes or policy when she is the next district attorney."

A source close to the Snyder campaign called Morgenthau's remarks "angry remnants" of Snyder's unsuccessful campaign four years ago, when she got about 40% of the vote.

As the Daily News exclusively reported, Morgenthau plans to endorse another former assistant prosecutor, Cyrus Vance Jr., and he is actively urging politicians to support Vance.

"Let me put it this way," he said. "I think Vance is by far the best qualified. Good lawyer, fair."

Richard Aborn, another candidate for district attorney, said he's staying out of the fight.

"I'll leave the political back-and-forth to the other campaigns," he said.